Take a playful, fresh air approach to mathematical development by introducing these EYFS outdoor maths games to your setting, says Judith Dancer…
Playing EYFS outdoor maths games outdoors offers a myriad of opportunities for practitioners and children to explore elements of mathematics together.
As we know, some children come into group care settings with lots and lots of earlier experience of ‘game playing’, both indoors and outdoors.
Some have spent hours with older siblings, carers or family members developing a love of Ludo, snakes and ladders and other board games.
Others have played ‘target games’ in gardens, parks and fields. These children are easily identified by practitioners, who build on this knowledge and these skills.
But often practitioners are not quite as good at ‘tuning into’ children’s passions around popular culture and sport. Support for the local football team is rarely listed in ‘home interests’ by families discussing their child on entry to the setting or school.
I am privileged to visit many settings, all around the UK, and I have rarely met a young child, who has an interest in football, or particularly in Wales, in rugby, who doesn’t know which team is winning when the score is 2-1 or 36-18! However, this understanding of numbers is rarely built on within settings.
As always, one of the key aspects of the adult role is in developing a stimulating environment. But it is really important to remember that the adult role outdoors, particularly when considering EYFS outdoor maths games, includes actively engaging as a co-player with children and extending learning.
It is certainly not a ‘hands off’ supervisory role, whatever the weather.
Particularly in settings where EYFS outdoor maths games are not currently routinely available, practitioners need to plan to introduce a small number of games initially, and spend a long time modelling them.
As children become familiar and confident, they can take a small bank of ideas and ‘rules’ to develop their own games.
Reflecting back on our own childhood, many of us will remember all about the development of ‘rules’ when playing games with older, taller or stronger children.
The ‘rules’ often change when the expected outcomes aren’t achieved, for example, when the person ‘in charge’ isn’t winning!
So the adult role in playing EYFS outdoor maths games is also that of modelling negotiation and compromise, turn taking and ‘fairness’ – important life skills.
Children who have lots of opportunities to join in with games introduced by adults can innovate, change the rules, make up games, creating new and better games of their own.
Remember, planning for EYFS outdoor maths games is not about expensive resources: time, imagination, collections of everyday objects and a big box of large chalks is often all that is needed.
Scoring offers a real purpose for recording numbers, which is sometimes lacking indoors, and can attract children who avoid pencil and paper activities.
Practitioners have an important role in supporting children’s attempts at tallying and mathematical graphics and recording outdoors:
Increasing numbers of children have limited opportunities to explore game playing on a large scale outdoors, so we need to offer time, space and opportunities for uninterrupted play.
In addition to traditional games, chalked games, target games and parachute games should be an integral part of everyday outdoor play.
All of the experiences described below can be led by an adult initially, but then organised and led by children.
Young children naturally throw balls, so build on this interest with soft, rolled-up socks and buckets with very young children, or more interesting objects with older children.
Organise a large ‘target’ such as a huge empty cardboard box or crate. Children take turns to throw a number of Wellington boots into the box.
If there are six boots altogether and three are outside the box, how many are in the box?
Build on children’s love of being ‘scared’ in a safe place. Children spend some time ‘swimming’ in different ways – talk about the front crawl, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly stroke.
Children then move around the outdoor area (standing up, moving their arms) while the theme tune from Jaws is played. Stop the music and call out ‘Shark’ – followed by a number.
So if ‘five’ is called, children need to get into groups of ‘five’ to form a life raft. Any children not in a group of five are ‘out’ and can play the music and call out the next number. Continue until a winner is found.
This game is similar to the old party favourite musical chairs. Provide enough carpet square (or cushions) for each child in the group.
Place the mats in a circle and children move around as the music plays. When the music stops, each child sits on a carpet square. Gradually remove the squares until there is only one child remaining.
This parachute game is reliant on children being familiar with the use of a parachute and enough adults to keep the parachute moving as the children travel underneath.
Each child in the group has a farmyard animal name, for example, cow, pig, sheep, horse. All adults and children move the parachute up and down.
Call out one name, for example, ‘horse’ and all the ‘horses’ run under the parachute and swap places. After a while, call out ‘farmer’s coming’ and all the children swap places.
Take turns to suggest ways of moving like ‘beans’, for example:
Jelly beans – wobble arms and legs
Jumping beans – jump up and down
Runner beans – running on the spot
Butter beans – ‘skating’ and slipping about
Bean pole – stand up straight and tall
Bean sprout – start off in a ball and stretch and grow
Mixed beans – children choose however they want to move
Take turns to call out a type of bean. Every so often call out “Four tins of beans” or “Three tins of beans” and children have to get into that sized group.
In this EYFS outdoor maths game you place a collection of soft toys on the ground. Use wooden hoopla rings to throw over the toys – who can win the most?
Stack empty tins (with no sharp edges) into piles of six, three at the bottom, then two, then one. Use rolled-up socks to knock the tins down. How many can you knock down with three socks?
Make skittles with the children. Fill empty plastic bottles with water, sand or gravel. Set them up in a skittle formation – four in the back row, then three, then two and finally one.
Take turns to roll the ball – if there are 10 altogether and two are knocked down, how many left standing?
Traditional games still prove very popular. Why not try…
When planning EYFS outdoor maths games, remember that you should…
Taking part in EYFS outdoor maths games can make maths meaningful for children and is a good way of exploring maths in an interactive way, so have a go!
Judith Dancer is an author, consultant and trainer specialising in communication and language and mathematics. She is co-author, with Carole Skinner, of Foundations of Mathematics – An Active Approach to Number, Shape and Measures in the Early Years.
Why play is essential to early childhood development
Editors picks